Development of a Monoclonal Antibody for the Detection of a Potentially Allergenic Epitope in Soy

Abstract

The development of a monoclonal antibody enables a specific and sensitive detection of a potentially allergenic epitope from proglycinin in soy and constitutes an appropriate tool for analytical purposes in medical diagnostics and food labeling.

Proglycinin was utilized as immunogen. The most favorable antibody G17E detected in a hybridoma cell culture screening was mass produced, purified, and used for immunoaffinity purification of proglycinin. In a heterogeneous, non-competitive ELISA format, a 50% ELISA inhibition point of 13 µg/L for purified proglycinin was determined. Cross-reactivity with homologous epitopes could be excluded. Specificity of G17E was determined by epitope mapping.

Keywords:

• Allergen
• Epitope
• Monoclonal antibody
• Soy

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the European Union for financial support (project IMAGEMO, QLK3-2002-02141). Furthermore, we would like to thank Prof. Dr. Angelika Görg and Dr. Gerold Reil from the Proteomics Group at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen in Freising-Weihenstephan for the mass spectronomic analysis of the purified protein bands. Special thanks go to Dr. Ralph Lausterer and Andrea Hubauer for technical assistance and very helpful advice in cell culture.